Bad news for workers is good news for LinkedIn

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Where everyone else sees economic gloom and doom, Reid Hoffman sees opportunity.

As the freshly minted CEO of LinkedIn (and its founder), he is shepherding a moneymaking tech company in battered Silicon Valley. And he anticipates more growth next year.

That is no small achievement. The social-networking site, which lets business professionals create online profiles to seek jobs and network, is adding members faster than ever despite its own recent layoffs and a management shake-up.

"LinkedIn is the office, Facebook is the barbecue in the backyard, and MySpace is the bar," says Hoffman, referring to the three major social-networking sites battling it out for millions of consumers and billions of dollars in online ads.

"Every individual is a small business or brand," Hoffman says. This month, he succeeded Dan Nye as CEO, whose two-year stint as chief executive was underscored by dramatic gains in members and revenue.

About 1 million people flock to the network every two weeks now, compared with 1 million per month earlier this year. (The site has 33 million members from 8 million two years ago.)

Gaining momentum

The surge accelerated in early September, when murmurs of recession began to take hold and business professionals intensified their networking efforts.

Since then, LinkedIn has experienced a 14% surge in recommendations its members make about each other, an 11% increase in number of connections made between LinkedIn users, a 10% jump in invitations sent, and a 9% bump in page views.

Many of the gains have come from employees and laid-off workers in financial industries such as investment banking.

"I use it as a recruiting tool and as a way to network as more people use LinkedIn," says Tim Whitman, a 36-year-old public-relations specialist in Boston who has 335 connections. "The economy is a factor. But it is a great business-networking tool in today's unstable work environment."

With fewer jobs available, Hoffman and others expect a rush in online business networking. "Many people — employed or not — will do project work as consultants, and look for clients," he says.